Ace Montgomery
William "Bill" Jeffrey Montgomery, Jr. (born July 4, 1976), better known by his ring name Ace Montgomery, is an American professional wrestler currently signed with Global Wrestling Association, where he is a two-time GWA World Champion. Montgomery is known for his previous appearances in Empire Wrestling and World Elite Wrestling. Recognized as a savvy businessman, entrepreneur, financial adviser, and political socialite, Montgomery is also the founder and owner of NASCAR team Ace Motorsports. He is also the minority owner of his father's oiling company, Montgomery Oil. Early life Montgomery was born in Tyler, Texas as the only son to William Sr. and Loretta Montgomery (née Cooper). His mother was a school teacher and a high school principal while his father has owned an oil business named Montgomery Oil since 1981. Montgomery attended John Tyler High School where he lettered in football. He then attended Brookhaven College before transferring to Texas Christian University where Montgomery majored in business and political science. As an undergraduate student in 2000, Montgomery spent his time helping the presidential campaign of George W. Bush throughout the northeast portion of Texas. Four years later, he was successful in aiding Bush's reelection campaign as president of the United States in 2004. Wrestling career Early career (2011) Montgomery became one of two financial lenders of Empire Wrestling that was owned by Benjamin Jameson. During the promotion's first pay-per-view event, Ace was involved in a backstage segment where he made Jameson, the guest referee for a match to name the company's first world champion, drive to the hospital as a ruse; unfortunately, this would be Montgomery's first and only wrestling-based appearance before the company ended its operations a week later. Meanwhile, Montgomery attended the Richards Wrestling Academy where he was trained by Frank Richards. Montgomery was mentored on a daily basis on the basic routines of an average wrestler before making his professional debut on December 6 in World Elite Wrestling while utilizing a gimmick of a wealthy business entrepreneur similar to his past as a capitalist in the oil industry. A month later, Montgomery won the first two matches of his career on Burnout before winning his first televised match on Animosity a week later against Eric James and Evan Epic. In the ensuing weeks, Montgomery developed an unspecified relationship with fellow wrestler and WEW Starlet Emily Martin. At the Winter Warzone pay-per-view event, Montgomery interfered in a three-way non-elimination match involving Martin, helping her become the promotion's inaugural TV Champion on January 22. Following the match, Montgomery stated through the company's website that he will officially be taking over Martin's career as her manager. After a successful run as Martin's manager during the ensuing weeks, Montgomery abruptly quit after Martin's title loss against CM Punk at the Countdown to Demise pay-per-view show in February. Global Wrestling Association (2012–present) GWA Champion (2012) Montgomery debuted in Global Wrestling Association in August 2012, continuing to utilize his financial stability as a pompous bully, dubbing himself nicknames such as being "the Essence of Elite" and "God's Gift to Professional Wrestling". Few weeks later after the announcement of a tournament in which thirty two participants would be divided into four sections to name the promotion's inaugural titleholder, Montgomery quickly made it known that he was vying for the GWA Championship at any and all costs. Having defeated the likes of Derek Kang, Gringo Starr, and Darren Hughes in the first three rounds, Montgomery entered the final stage of the tournament by being placed in a four-way non-elimination match at Genesis against Chase Andrews, NBT, and Slash. Montgomery eventually won the match, gaining his first championship in his professional wrestling career. In the ensuing weeks, Montgomery swiftly self-established himself as the company's premier wrestler and he began to utilize cheating tactics to ensure his possession of the GWA Championship. This was evident a month later at Full Throttle when Montgomery defeated Chase Andrews in a title defense by using the ropes for leverage during the deciding pinfall. Then weeks later at the following pay-per-view event, Road to Glory, Montgomery defeated NBT by using the GWA Championship as a weapon after purposefully knocking the referee unconscious. During this time, the GWA Championship became the GWA World Championship after several defenses outside of North America, thus leading to Montgomery having held his first world championship reign in his career. A week after Road to Glory, Montgomery chastised several members of the company's roster for lack of initiative and being too passive in order to present a challenge against Montgomery. During his rant, Montgomery was interrupted by Slash, who had won the Road to Glory Contract match that guaranteed him a GWA World Championship match a month later at the ensuing pay-per-view show. Both men argued back and forth the following weeks which ignited a feud between the two at would eventually last eight months later. In the ensuing episodes of Shockwave, Montgomery patronized Slash for how he presented himself whilst coming from a wealthy family. On the other side of the spectrum, Slash argued about Montgomery's selfish ways and his reigning tyranny over GWA, that someone needed to take Montgomery "off of his throne". The two went onto face each other in tag team matches until they finally met in a one-on-one bout at December 2 Remember where Montgomery successfully defended his title, albeit while Slash had held onto the ropes during the deciding pinfall. The Enterprise (2013) Toward the end of 2012, Frank Richards began to accompany Montgomery during matches and was ever-present during Montgomery's in-ring promos and backstage interviews. Meanwhile, Richards was also managing his sons Maxwell and Taylor, known together as The Natural Express, while they held the GWA Tag Team Championships. During this same time, Montgomery and Chase Andrews renewed their rivalry as the two began to be at each other's odds on the ensuing episodes of Shockwave in the month of January. The two finally settled their differences in a submission match at Inception in which Montgomery lost against Andrews and thus ending Montgomery's streak of holding the GWA World Championship for 119 days. On the following episode of Shockwave, Montgomery and the trio of the Richards clan formed the quartet officially known as The Enterprise. Vowing to be dominant and successful, the group made their presence known by bullying other members of the roster and aiding each other in matches through interference. Montgomery faced Chase Andrews once more as both men decided wrestled each other for the third and final time at Chaos in a Cage for the GWA World Championship. In the weeks leading to the title bout, Andrews professed to Montgomery that no one had deserved to defend the title against Montgomery more than Andrews considering Montgomery's cheating ways during the past two title defenses. Montgomery, who reluctantly agreed to face Andrews in a steel cage match, successfully regained the GWA World Championship at the pay-per-view event albeit receiving assistance from all three of his co-members in the Enterprise. GWA World Champion and various feuds (2013) The week after Chaos in a Cage, Montgomery renewed his bitter rivalry with Slash, who had become the latest number one contender for the GWA World Championship at the aforementioned pay-per-view event. On the episodes of Shockwave leading to their title match, Montgomery and his co-members in The Enterprise subtly ridiculed Slash at every chance given to them on live television, even going so far as mocking the death of Slash's brother. Then on the final Shockwave prior to the pay-per-view, Slash reappeared on Shockwave after a two-week-long hiatus and ended the episode by which Montgomery received a superkick from the returning star. At March Madness, Montgomery faced Slash for the first time since their bout at December 2 Remember three months beforehand. Prior to their bout at the event, Montgomery agreed to a stipulation made by Slash in that their encounter for the GWA World Championship during Montgomery's reign would be their last so long as none of the members from the Enterprise appeared ringside during the title bout. After General Manager Benjamin Jameson made the proposal official, Montgomery went onto defeat Slash albeit by striking his opponent with the GWA World Championship while the referee had been knocked unconscious in what looked to be incidental contact from Montgomery. Immediately after the bout, Montgomery was congratulated by all three members of the Enterprise, who were standing atop the entrance ramp and avoiding to approach the ringside area due to the pre-match stipulation. After March Madness, Montgomery began to develop a rivalry against Zyther, who had won the March Madness Tournament to become the latest number one contender for the GWA World Championship. Montgomery, however, did not take the accomplishment too seriously as he brushed off Zyther, who offered to shake Montgomery's hand as a sign of respect, on the ensuing episode of Shockwave. A week afterward, Montgomery, who had won a match during the main event of Shockwave in a non-title bout against Darren Hughes until being chased off by Zyther. During a contract signing two weeks later, Montgomery and Zyther had a stare down until members of The Enterprise attacked Zyther, who ultimately fended off all three members of the Richards family before Montgomery had retreated toward the entrance ramp. Finally at Annihilation, the two faced each other in a heated bout that involved a flurry of brawls and power moves until Montgomery gained the upper hand by use of the GWA World Championship to his advantage, striking Zyther in the head while the referee had his back turned toward the action due to the distraction coming from Frank Richards. In the ensuing weeks leading up to the following pay-per-view event, Cyber Mayhem, Montgomery had not known of his opponent until the actual event. The reasoning for this was a poll that decided for who faced off against Montgomery for the GWA World Championship. Among the possible candidates, both NBT and Zyther, prior of opponents of Montgomery, failed to be named the number one contender after Darren Hughes ultimately won the poll. At Cyber Mayhem, Montgomery successfully defended his championship after defeating Hughes with the aid of Frank Richards. A week later, Montgomery was issued a challenge from Hughes where a group led by Montgomery face a group led by Hughes at the next pay-per-view, Battlegrounds. Montgomery, leading a team consisting of the Natural Express and Ramon Rodriguez, wrestled against the quartet of Chase Andrews, Darren Hughes, Demon, and Trevor Adams. The Enterprise ultimately lost the bout, beginning the group's noticeable dissension that was further evident at the ensuing pay-per-view, Independence, where both Richards brothers failed to fend of potential winners of the Independence Battle Royal while also failing to successfully assist Montgomery during his title defense later that night. The Enterprise slowly began to disintegrate thereafter as they began to bicker between one another, mostly in-fighting within the Richards family while Montgomery's dissatisfaction with the overall performance of his group. Eventually, Montgomery defeated the GWA World Championship against Zyther in a bullrope match. At week later on Shockwave, Montgomery gave both Richards brothers an ultimatum of either retaining the GWA Tag Team Championship at the Supremacy pay-per-view event or be permanently banished from the Enterprise after their failed attempt from Independence. Eventually, the Natural Express had lost their match and their championships, to which Montgomery kicked out both Maxwell and Taylor Richards from the Enterprise a week later on Shockwave. Meanwhile, Montgomery rekindled his rivalry against Slash, who had become the number one contender to Montgomery's GWA World Championship at Independence. After weeks of non-contact and verbal spouts toward one another, Slash agreed to Montgomery's proposal in which Slash would never again be able to challenge for the GWA World Championship so long as Montgomery was the reigning titleholder. Finally at the Supremacy pay-per-view event, Montgomery defended his title but went onto lose the bout and the championship against Slash. A week later on Shockwave, Montgomery was successfully granted rematch at the following pay-per-view event, Retribution, against Slash for the GWA World Championship but ultimately lost the match after an unsuccessful attempt by Frank Richards to assist Montgomery during the match. Personal life Montgomery resides in Palm Beach, Florida. Currently single, Montgomery has kept a low profile of his dating life while being romantically linked in the past with such celebrities like model Simone Valez, actress Cristiane Frances, and country singer Ruby Lucy. Montgomery was previously married to his high school sweetheart, Valerie Jenkins, in 2001 before the couple divorced in the winter of 2010. The couple did not have children. A supporter of the republican party, Montgomery spent time helping Rick Perry and his campaign bid to represent the GOP for the nation's presidency in 2011. Montgomery then pulled out of his duties, however, in order to focus on an in-ring wrestling career. Also known to be a charitable man, Montgomery has spent well over $15 million to various charities and foundations across the country as of 2012. In 2008, he created and funded the Ace of Life Foundation, a nonprofit organization whose mission is to provide benefits for disabled people, from the elderly to the children. Montgomery has donated over $5 million of his own money into the charity. Also, an advocate to wounded soldiers, Montgomery has also donated over $5 million to organizations who help debilitated servicemen and women by reorganizing their lives through specialized programs. An avid fan of stock car racing from an early age, Montgomery utilized residual funds originally invested in his father's oil business, along with other financial aides from capitalizing ventures, into creating his own racing team named Ace Motorsports in 2009, competing in the Whelen All-American Series. In November 2011, Montgomery attempted to enter his automotive franchise into NASCAR's highest level of competition, the Sprint Cup Series. Montgomery's attempt, however, was defeated before gaining a successful bid into the 2013 Nationwide Series season after two consecutive years of failing to enter NASCAR's highest developmental series. In wrestling *'Finishing moves' **''AMS'' – Ace Montgomery Sleeper (Cobra clutch) *'Signature moves' **''Ace Breaker'' (Arm wrench cutter) **Bearhug **Big boot **Cradle piledriver **''East Texas Powerbomb'' (Gutwrench release powerbomb) **Eye poke **Fist drop **''Fort Worth Postage Stamp'' (Running knee lift followed by a neckbreaker slam) **Low blow **Russian legsweep **''Saddle Toss'' (Pumphandle fallaway toss) **Running lariat **Sidewalk slam **Snake eyes **Standing spinebuster **Turnbuckle shoulder thrusts *'Managers' **Frank Richards *'Wrestlers managed' **Emily Martin *'Nicknames' **'"The' All-American / American / Apex Aristocrat" **"The Essence of Elite" **'"God's Gift (to Professional Wrestling)"' **"The Millionaire Manager / Monarch" *'Entrance themes' **"Deep in the Heart of Texas" by Bing Crosby (2011) **"The Stars and Stripes Forever" by John Philip Sousa (2011–2012) **'"I'm a King Bee"' by The Stone Foxes (2012–present) Championships and accomplishments *'Global Wrestling Association' **GWA World Championship (2 times) **GWA Award for Star of the Year (2013) **GWA Award for Match of the Year (2013) External links Category:1976 births Category:American characters Category:American wrestlers Category:Characters Category:Characters from Texas Category:Commentators Category:Empire Wrestling alumni Category:Living people Category:Male characters Category:Male wrestlers Category:Managers Category:World champions Category:World Elite Wrestling alumni Category:Wrestlers Category:Wrestlers from Texas